Dead and missing caches

[+firennice]

As time goes on we see more and more caches turn up missing. The people who maintained them are leaving, or they just dont maintian them. In some areas it gets frustrating to think that there might be a wonderful place for a cache, but there is a multi missing #2 of its 6 legs. So no one has completed it in nearly 4 years. We log it as dnf (then someone decided to log it as found because they found the one part of the leg), then notes, then maintenance, then to archive...and months upon months pass by.

 

Isn't there an easier way. I proposed to our reviewer (and the previous one) that our state geocaching group get a list together and turn in to him. He can post a listing that they are missing to please maintaint and/or archive them. and we never hear a responce. We were just trying to help his workload.

 

Yet nothing ever happens, and they build up, more and more. I could give 30 caches that have mulitiple notes that they are missing, and many archive notes. Yet they are never acted upon.

 

Is there any hope?

[+WRASTRO]

Well I don't know what the situation is in your area but I can tell you that in my little corner of Washington the reviewers and the caching community are pretty well on top of this issue. The only advice I can give you is to post an SBA log on the cache if it is truly not being maintained. I suspect though that there is more to the story.

[+Lord Stirling]

If you have a list I'd be happy to take a look at it. Please e-mail it to me.

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

As time goes on we see more and more caches turn up missing. The people who maintained them are leaving, or they just dont maintian them. In some areas it gets frustrating to think that there might be a wonderful place for a cache, but there is a multi missing #2 of its 6 legs. So no one has completed it in nearly 4 years. We log it as dnf (then someone decided to log it as found because they found the one part of the leg), then notes, then maintenance, then to archive...and months upon months pass by.

 

Isn't there an easier way. I proposed to our reviewer (and the previous one) that our state geocaching group get a list together and turn in to him. He can post a listing that they are missing to please maintaint and/or archive them. and we never hear a responce. We were just trying to help his workload.

 

Yet nothing ever happens, and they build up, more and more. I could give 30 caches that have mulitiple notes that they are missing, and many archive notes. Yet they are never acted upon.

 

Is there any hope?

You may perhaps have some kind of regional issue in your area, but, speaking for my area (MD/PA/NoVA), I have NEVER heard of such problems, and, in any case, in this area the reviewers work closely with local geocaching organizations to ensure that abandoned caches are quickly adopted or archived and removed.

 

Based upon my vast ten thousand years of experience and over ten billion posts thereupon, in this and similar forums, I must say that I strongly suspect that there may be a lot more to the story than the OP has let on, that is, that the OP may have an entire private agenda which has not yet been disclosed!

[+Renegade Knight]

...Is there any hope?

 

Yes. Go seek the other 230098098 caches out there. Caching is a hobby. Finders seek when time and life allow. Owners maintain when time and life allow. It's true some owners drop out. In time that will work itself out. In the meantime that brings us back to the 230098098 other caches.

[+trainlove]

Go seek the other 230098098 caches out there.

Are we really that far along? I once calculated, on the back of a greasy envelope, that there can be 5,750,000,000 caches on Earth's land surface, if one was every 528 feet. Perhaps multiply that by 2/sqrt(3) for complete non-Descartean grid saturation.

Darn it, I can't get FizzyCAlc to give me GCnumbers for either of these numbers.

 

And you know, I read that due to Einsteinian spacetime distortion, the Earth actually has 60 acres of missing area. http://www.timetrics.net/

[+StarBrand]

While there is the occasional odd cache that ends similar to your examples (for months though not years) - there is certainly not a widespread problem anywhere around here. Our local reviewer does a good job of staying on top of those and I know appreciates being notified of them.

[+Renegade Knight]

...And you know, I read that due to Einsteinian spacetime distortion, the Earth actually has 60 acres of missing area. http://www.timetrics.net/

This gal doesn't factor in that you have less time to deal with each and every bit of distance. The faster you go, the less time you are in any one spot. Besides her logic is off. If as he says distaqnce expands as you slow down and we can't see it because our ruler shrinks...that's bass ackwards. If your ruler shrinks, you would measure more distance...not the same or less. Maybe that was a typo.

 

Oh and since we are both made out of time, and connected by time (since time connects all and is all) then why can't I read your thoughts?

 

Double oh, yes we are that far along give or take somewhere between 10394798754 and 0. Of course if I slow down time just right I can now make and maintain a cache anywhere. Don't blame me. That's what the theory says.

[+mtn-man]

Whoa Nellie! Drifting waaaaayyyyyy off topic.

 

If you have a list I'd be happy to take a look at it. Please e-mail it to me.

 

Lord Sterling is reviewing caches in UT at this time. Please send the email to their profile as requested. Click on their name in their post to go to their profile page. I will try to look back in my email folder at some of the UT caches as well. I should still have some of that back for the last six months or so.

[+Isonzo Karst]

something about the way this thread has gone puts me in mind of this post in a recent thread.

 

To firennice, take advantage of Lord Stirling's offer - I'm sure he'll get on it....whoever's sock he may be.

[+firennice]

 

You may perhaps have some kind of regional issue in your area, but, speaking for my area (MD/PA/NoVA), I have NEVER heard of such problems, and, in any case, in this area the reviewers work closely with local geocaching organizations to ensure that abandoned caches are quickly adopted or archived and removed.

 

Based upon my vast ten thousand years of experience and over ten billion posts thereupon, in this and similar forums, I must say that I strongly suspect that there may be a lot more to the story than the OP has let on, that is, that the OP may have an entire private agenda which has not yet been disclosed!

 

To be honest i do have a private agenda, to clean up the area of abandoned, ignored, and I believe at least one bogus cache (no finds, one hide, one logon, never returned). Speaking to others at the local level we have a number of cachers that I will refer to as 'old timers'. They love caching and with the wide open expanse of this area, and great swaths of caches, they have decided to ignore the caches that come up missing. They know them by heart and if you get together with them, they can quote the missing caches.

 

I am not speaking of those caches that dwindle into a sun cracked, water logged container of what used to be paper but is now a wad of pulp. Some good samaritan usualy helps them out, or offers to adopt them.

 

It seems to be the newer 'greenhorns' with the low-end gps units that carry papers with them to cache, or cant/dont download notes. They go to the site and search and search, only to realize later when loggin that they wasted a lot of time. (You can't easily review nearby caches online I have 200 caches within 3 miles of my home, that would be a lot of computer searching).

 

I did contact our reviewer, and thanks mtn-man a few of us noticed older caches that you took care of last night. We seem to play musical reviewers here...that is many of the issues. Hopefully Lord Stirling sticks around for some time, it would be nice to have consistancy. We did turn over lists of about a number of caches, he quickly archived some, other people have started being notified they need to check the caches, and some he may decided does not warrant any action.

 

My point though.. as this hobby/game grows. It is my belief that it is just as important for a reviewer to check the status of caches as well as to post them. My city is nearly impossible to place caches in. I learned that quickly. I pretty much abandoned it because of the cache density, and was able to find many locations a little ways away. I feel bad for some that try many times and get denied.

 

Should there be rules governing some of them...perhaps? I dont know. Some have unknown/puzzle caches that sit for years and never get solved/found. Should that go on indefinatly? Others disable caches for extended periods, 12 months -18 months to reserve cache locations (apparently). Should there be a cache placement limit? Vacation micro drops in the middle of vacation travel sites? Possibly review caches that the owners have not logged on for some time? All of them are issues that I think will need to be dealt with as the cache density increases.

[+gelfling6]

My last cache (and, unfortunately, Muggled) was kind of a conundrum...

 

It was in the shape of a fairly good sized rock, which blended in pretty well, BUT... when i went to check it last, the area where it had been, was a rarely used park, behind a small shopping center.. This day I checked, the dense grass & weed growth had been finally cut back.. Apparently, they found the cache, and disposed of it.

 

Yet, what irks me... This park was rarely used.. the grass growth happened in roughly a 5 month period.. And I think I was responsible for at least a good 30 or so visitors to the park..

 

Go figure?

 

I wouldn't place a "Placement Period" limit.. But, I would make the following suggestion....

 

If a placer hasn't logged on for a massive (4-5 months) and ONLY if the cache has received a "Needs Maintenance" log entry. Then, the reviewers might see fit to seek a new owner, to maintain the cache. (adoption of an abandoned cache.) I had thought about adopting one that had been badly damaged (Container crushed under the rock it was hidden under, leaving contents exposed to the elements.)

 

Not wanting to depose anyone, but what about, also, the passing of the person who placed it? (untimely death, etc.) Has anyone explored that possibility? Recently, heard of one cacher who succumed to Colon Cancer.. I don't know if he delegated the ownership of the caches he placed to someone else, or not.. But same thing could apply if no-one else steps up to reclaim, or transfer ownership.